I know of times when it's a dollar or a penny or an amount that is given to charity. I know of another instance where the contract was written in a way that it wasn't a one-day deal, it was a one-hour deal, that basically meant as soon as the presser was over, he was no longer a member of the team. Maybe they're all written like that, who knows?

I think if you're a player who is best known for what you did in a specific city, but ended your career elsewhere, it's a good way for the player to maximize their chances to get local endorsements or appearance fees that sometimes go with being a retired player in good standing with the local team.

How funny would it be if one day one of these "retire with the team" guys trips on his way to podium - gets hurt and the team is on the hook for a full year? You know the team isn't taking out insurance for this one-day deal so they would be on the hook for the whole year!

Also - does the guy with the one day contract get his per diem for that day?

If, according to the Deadspin story, no money changes hands on these - I think teams are missing a big-time opportunity to do some marketing. Leave yourself at 52 men during the offseason (or however that works), and sign some sick kids to one-day or one-hour contracts to play for their favorite teams. Or auction off a one-day contract on Ebay and send the money to charity. I'm sure there are people out there who would pay a lot of money for a legit contract (a copy of which they could keep) and the ability to say they played for the Cowboys, even if it was only for a day and they actually had to pay to do it.